


Aim: Building a Village

by Dayne_Abraxas



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Humor, Silly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-21 06:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6040891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dayne_Abraxas/pseuds/Dayne_Abraxas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With his friend/enemy/frenemy finally listening to his idea to form an alliance, Hashirama is brimming with excitement at showing Madara the perfect area to start a village for their clans. It's not like someone got there first... And if someone did, it isn't like someone holds a grudge on either of them, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Perfect Land!

It is the start of a wonderful day for the for the Heir of the Senju clan. Just recently, his good friend and Heir to the Uchiha clan agreed to a ceasefire to form a village with him! Well,  _ friend _ isn't a very accurate way to describe their relationship. After all, the Uchiha heir, Madara, is kind of the reason his father is on the verge of death… Also, the Uchiha clan is the reason two of his brothers are no longer of this world… Then again, the Senju clan is also the reason Madara is now three siblings short…   
  
But none of that matters! Once the whole village thing is jump started, it will be the start of a long, loving relationship between the two most formidable clan to walk upon the lands: The Alliance of the Senju and Uchiha clan. No one will be able to stop them! And nothing can possibly go wrong at all!   
  
First order of business, though: location. They would need a good location for creating the village, and the Senju Heir, Hashirama knew a spot that is just  _ perfect _ for a village!   
  
He and Madara are currently near the heart of the Land of Fire, very close to the region of land he first travelled in his childhood (during those rare moments he wasn't fighting other shinobi). He can still remember the area quite well. The land, ripe for vegetation, a giant plateau that overlooks a huge forest, wonderful weather year round…   
  
"You are going to love it there, Madara! From what I can remember from the last time I was around, no one has claimed the area, yet! It has everything we need to be autonomous from the lords that hire us!" Hashirama can't contain his excitement. Once they gain autonomy from the lords of the land, there will be no reason for their clans to fight to the death to make a living!   
  
"You should stop hyping this place up. I might just end up disappointed if it falls short from my expectations." Despite his sardonic words, Madara is also excited for the prospect of being free from wars funded by the lords. Once they decide on the village location, they will then announce the news to the rest of their clans.   
  
As they get nearer to their destination, they sense a presence ahead. Not knowing if the presence has friends, the two slow down their approach. The two heirs have no reason to start a fight, so they make eye contact with each other and nod, mentally agreeing to do this diplomatically.   
  
Ahead, they finally meet up with the mysterious presence; a woman with long, dark hair, tied in a loose ponytail, perching on a tree branch, using absolutely  _ zero _ effort to hide from them. Instead, she stares at the both of them with an expression of boredom in her strangely, almost white pupil less eyes, as she eats a piece of fruit.   
  
The two heirs have no idea how to react to her. She is most likely a shinobi, what with being so high up in a tree as if it is a normal thing… Also, she possesses a sword, so, samurai or shinobi, she could be dangerous! The two young future leaders have nothing to worry about, however, for they hail from the strongest clans in all five lands! If this woman is indeed dangerous, they can take her! First things first, though…   
  
"Greetings, stranger! We are the Heirs of the Senju and Uchiha clan! We have no intention to fight, so who might you be?" Hashirama, using his friendly aura to announce to the stoic stranger that they will cause no harm, tells the stranger.   
  
The stranger, however, just looks at them with disappointment. "Why would you announce  _ both _ of your clan names like that? If you did anything at this point to piss me off, I could send my allies to take out your family… You just ruined the challenge of gathering intel…"   
  
Yup, she is  _ definitely _ a shinobi. A samurai would have too much honor to go stab someone in the back. Those guys would just straight up stab someone in the front, they were so honorable.   
  
Madara is now steaming inside. How could Hashirama just trust this stranger?! She now has vital information on them: their family name. What if  _ her _ clan is powerful?! The Uchiha and Senju have been fighting with one another for so long that… they rarely ever fight shinobis from another clan, now that he thinks about it… They have little to  _ no _ experience fighting other clans! They don't even have intel on other great clans other than their clan symbol… without having a name on said symbols! Madara looks at the stranger closely. Nope. No clan symbol on her person. No intel can be made at first glance.   
  
She must perish.   
  
Acting quickly, Madara draws his tanto, throwing it towards the woman's head for a quick kill.   
  
The woman, however, reacts just as quickly, dodging the tanto and jumping off from the tree. As she nears the ground a few feet from the two, she kicks at the air, surprising Madara, as the, what he now realizes, chakra fueled kick hits him straight in the jaw, hitting him with enough force to knock him towards a tree.   
  
"Madara!" Madara, possibly suffering from a mild concussion, just gurgles and drools, in response.   
  
It is now the woman's turn to steam inside. "You know, I was willing to do things diplomatically… But now, you've gone and pissed me off! The hell are you two doing here, anyway?!" She throws the remains of her mostly eaten fruit towards Hashirama, missing his head as it flies towards the trees behind him.   
  
Hashirama shrinks in response to her rage. "I apologize for my friend's reaction! His people have a tendency to take something and bring it to an extreme conclusion! He probably took your statement and concluded that you would go off to kill his remaining family!"   
  
She crosses her arms. "Yeah, I know… BOTH of you have reputations that precedes you… Frankly, I thought the over-reaction thing was other people over-reacting… I can now see that there is some truth to that." She turns away from them to leave. "Now, get the hell out! You're starting to get near my territory, and I'd rather not have clans I'm not allied with anywhere  _ near _ my home…"   
  
Hashirama's jaw drops, his hopes and dreams are now under the mighty heels of despair… Could it be..?   
  
"T-territory..? B-but, this area was unclaimed five years ago!"   
  
She looks back at him. "Yeah…  _ was _ … I  _ just _ claimed it a couple of years ago… You were too slow and missed your chance. Better luck next time."   
  
"B-but… peace… the village… the alliance…"   
  
"You know, I  _ would _ have allied with your clans… But your clans fight  _ way _ too much with each other. I can't even count the number of times plans had to be changed because  _ you _ two, in particular, went and changed the lands…  _ again _ ." She thinks back bitterly on the number of times assassination missions were delayed because the path to the village somehow became a hill sized crater… or a landmark vanishing when it was there a few days ago… No, she is not fond of these two.   
  
Madara chooses this moment to rise from his half-conscious state, his eyes dilating a bit from the hard blow to his head. "So, you know how  _ powerful _ we are…" He walks towards her, steps shaky. "Then, we'll take these lands by force!" He starts to form some hand seals, slower than usual, and a bit shaky from his concussion.   
  
Her eyes narrows at him and she snaps her fingers. Suddenly, Madara could no longer move. Noticing this, Hashirama tries to see what was wrong, finding that he too could not move.   
  
"I have  _ allies _ … Why do you think I wasted a perfectly good fruit to miss your head?" Before either of them could process this, a speeding spherical form of  _ something _ hits them the moment they realize that they could move again, knocking them unconscious. The spinning form stop in its rotation, revealing them to be a huge man with long, spiky reddish-brown hair. Another man with a dark ponytail reveals himself from amongst the trees.   
  
"So, are these the two that triggered the seals on our borders, Ma'am?" The dark haired man asks.   
  
"Yeah… I don't see anyone else nearby…"   
  
"Ah…" The man lifts his hand to reveal the fruit that was thrown much earlier. "I have to say, that was really sneaky of you to use your snack to send a message. How did you even manage to find the time to seal a message in the middle of a confrontation?"   
  
She scoffs at him. "Don't underestimate me, Nara…"   
  
Nara raises his hands in mock surrender. "Right, right… Troublesome Hyuuga… Why did you need our help, anyway?"   
  
She points at the two unconscious men on the ground. "Those are Hashirama and Madara. Like hell I'm going to take them on my own. So, I took advantage of the fact that I know more about them than they know about me and this area."   
  
"I see." He pauses. "So, what do you want to do with them?"   
  
She think about it for a moment. "I don't know… Throw them in a river, or something… I'm pretty sure they can survive that… No way I'm picking a fight with either of their clans."   
  
"Alright. Do you want to get more intel on them before we proceed?"   
  
"Good idea. Where's that Yamanaka guy?" As if on cue, a blonde haired man jumps from the tree, landing in front of her.   
  
"That's hurtful, Haru… I know you know our names…" The blonde man comments.   
  
Nara waves his hand at the blonde. "Inoshi, you know Haru is perpetually grumpy… That's her way of showing her affections…" He points at the two unconscious men. "Now, dig in the mind of those two. We should get some interesting info on their techniques."   
  
"Alright, Shikahiro…" Inoshi looks towards the large man who knocked out the trespassers. "Choshin! Let's go take them near a river!"   
  
"Right!" With that, the two leave with the trespassers on their shoulders.


	2. Introducing the Kaguya Clan!

When he finds them near a river, Hashirama and Madara are face to face, hugging each other in their sleep. This both irritates and puzzles Tobirama. To see his brother sleep with the enemy… What is the idiot thinking?! What’s more, they are both soaking wet, armor and weapons gone from their person. The only thing remaining are the clothes they wear under their armor. Tobirama can already predict a migraine in his near future.

While Tobirama figures out what to do, Madara dreams… He dreams of a world, where peace is the norm, and he, the Immortal leader, sits on his throne, with the Moon under his command to send messages of peace… For whatever reason, he has Hashirama’s face grafted on the left side of his chest… Huh… Even as an Immortal Leader of Peace he still needs his rival… as his right-hand man… Er, technically as his left nipple… Whatever!

“Wake up, you idiots!” 

With that, Madara’s dream of World Peace is gone. He opens his eyes and glares at Tobirama, the man responsible for leaving his last brother, Izuna, in a state of being crippled. Hashirama groans and proceeds to bury his face deeper in Madara’s chest. “Five more minutes, Tobi…”

Madara finally realizes his position. He quickly pushes Hashirama away from him, quickly rising and attempting to regain his dignity. To sleep with a Senju like that… Madara can feel Izuna’s disappointment. 

“Hey! What’s the big deal?!” Hashirama, finally awake, rises from the ground. “I was having such a nice dream…”

“This whole thing never happened…” Madara glares at his rival.

“What thing?” 

“NEVER! HAPPENED!” Madara is foaming, now. Hashirama shrinks at this. Tobirama pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Nevermind that. What the hell are you two doing here? And where are your weapons and armor?” Tobirama asks.

Hashirama beams at this. “Well, I came up with this great idea to form a village to stop the lords from hiring us in a proxy war! I was just showing Madara the perfect location for a village!” With that, his mood goes from jovial to broody. “But then this mean woman showed up and told us to leave… She… She crushed my hopes and dreams!” Hashirama has tears in his eyes at this point.

Madara then remembers the humiliation. She had her  _ allies _ knock him out before he could even use a single technique! That coward… beat him. “That bitch thinks she can get away with that?!” His Sharingan flares. “Next time I fight her, I will  _ not  _ go easy on her!” With that, Madara leaves with a wild look in his eyes.

“I regret I asked…” Tobirama says to no one in particular. He looks back at his brother. “And you! What’s with this ‘form a village thing’, huh?! With the enemy, no less!”

“But, Tobi! It’s a great idea!” Hashirama tries to convince his rational brother. 

Tobirama, however, is having none of that shit. “No, it is not! And you are  _ not  _ in position to be making decisions for the clan! Dad is still technically alive! Until he actually dies, you are not allowed to make clan decisions!”

“Fine…” Hashirama is despondent at his brother’s reaction. He will convince him… one day…

While the two Senju brothers have their brotherly spat, Madara is heading towards where that unknown woman is most likely at. It is when he is halfway where he first saw her did he remember that he has no armor or weapon in his person. He stops in his tracks, frustration from his current situation building. 

“Damn it! How am I going to face her like this?!” While Madara is very powerful, he knows next to nothing about that woman… or her allies… He is starting to realize the drawbacks of having such a fearsome reputation that precedes himself… She already knows  _ too much _ before encountering him. “If only I had the ability to  _ look _ at a person and just  _ know _ everything about them!” While his Sharingan can help him copy and understand the technique of others, there is a huge possibility that the woman’s clan possesses a bloodline limit, which he can’t quite do the same thing with… Why else does she have those weird eyes?! And, while he can probably overpower her with his Mangekyou Sharingan, he’s been using it so much that his vision is starting to blur. He can’t waste it now.

With he himself unable to fight the woman in his current predicament, he decides on the next best thing: manipulate another clan to weaken his new rival. If she can use her allies, Madara is going to use his acquaintance! At least until he can fight her himself. He then takes off in another direction to manipulate a clan that he can rely on to be controlled: the Kaguya clan. Madara grins at his plan. Those guys, even without their bloodline limit, can take a LOT of beating. Only Hashirama can surpass the average Kaguya in terms of pure durability. This should be a nasty surprise for his new rival. 

It takes him a few hours, but he finally reaches the Kaguya clan’s hovel. This clan is still as simple as always. Using their wealth mostly for new ways to hurt their enemies and none to improve their dwellings. Madara can easily infiltrate them if he wants. They are savage, though, and with their numbers, Madara has no doubt that they can eventually beat him. Luckily, he is not here to fight them. He heads towards the swankiest hovel in the place (not that it is any more fancy in comparison to the rest of the tiny place). Only the leader has the right to live in the marginally more luxurious hovel. 

He enters, face to sword at the Kaguya clan leader. Just as he expects. 

“Uchiha… What do I owe you this visit?” The Kaguya clan leader glares at Madara. While there are no other Kaguya present (because a leader who can’t handle a single trespasser has no right to lead) Madara has no doubt that the man will last long enough for the rest of the Kaguya to realize that someone is waltzing in their home as if he owns it. He can’t have that, right now! Diplomacy it is.

“Lord Kaguya… I am here to pass on information that you might find interesting…” 

The Kaguya leader just continues to glare at him with no intention to put his sword down. “Unless it is an enemy I have not yet faced or a new tool to carve my opponents with, I have no interest with what you tell me…”

“Oh, I think what I am about to tell you will catch your interest…” He pauses to add to the anticipation. “I have recently encountered a powerful group of people. Alas, even with all my prowess, that small group managed to beat me and my good acquaintance, Senju Hashirama.” That whole statement is a complete embellishment of the true event, but it is enough to catch the attention of the belligerent clan head.

“Go on…”

“It was a fierce battle. With a single kick, she managed to break past my greatest technique! And while dazed, she had her allies take me down… She even managed to take down Hashirama with a  _ fruit _ … I don’t know how, but she managed it! Though, I was out of if at that point. I might have seen things in a skewed perspective, but I know, without a doubt, that I fought a powerful foe.” A complete lie, but it gets results. The Kaguya leader is now grinning with excitement.

“I underestimated you, Uchiha… This is interesting.” He puts his sword down. “So, where do I find this woman?”

“Near the heart of the Land of Fire. You will know who she is by her pale, almost white, pupiless eyes. I believe it is a trait of her clan.”

“A white eyed demon, huh?” Lord Kaguya’s grin grows wider. “This will be fun… Hehehe… I better get some scouts to find that beast.” He leaves to get people to find the scouts to do his bidding.

Alone, Madara grins to himself. Controlling that man is just too easy. “Wait until you see my little surprise, White Eyed Demon…” Madara adopts the Kaguya leader’s nickname for his new rival. “Soon, you will learn not to mess with the great and mighty Uchiha Madara! Once the Kaguya clan fight with you and your allies to the brink of extinction, I, Madara, will take you out in a one on one match! Hahahahaha!” Madara leaves, intending to return home to his clan.

Little does Madara know, someone  _ is  _ around to hear him monologuing. A young man with white hair, two dots above his eyebrow denoting him as a Kaguya clan member, emerges from another room. The walls of this house is, quite frankly, very thin, so this man heard everything that transpired, including said monologuing. This worries him. The moment his father, the current clan head, finds whoever this white eyed demon woman is, he will fight until he is incapable of fighting. Knowing how majority of his clan is, there is a huge possibility that his clan will fight to the point of extinction. Not good. There is a small spot of hope, however.

About a year ago, he fought and lost to someone with pale, white eyes. It was a man with shoulder-length hair that was so dark, it looks almost blue in the sunshine. He wore a mask in their fight, but at some point, the young Kaguya broke it off, but not before he was paralyzed by his opponent. It seemed to impress the white eyed man.

“Ah, to break my mask! You are a worthy foe, indeed…” Was what that man said. “Tell you what… If you ever grow tired of your clan’s… _ungraceful_ ways, you should join up with my clan in this hidden village we recently formed. I’m sure that thing you do with your bone will see a much better use with us rather than with your… savage family, no offense…”

“Why would you want me to join you?” The young Kaguya clan member asked.

“ _ Weeeell _ , you seem sane compared to this  _ insane _ family of yours. To see a rough diamond amongst the ashes… Ah, it breaks my fragile heart..!” Said the white eyed man as he dramatically placed his hand on the middle of his chest. He had a strange way of speaking.

“I am tired of fighting for the sake of fighting…” Said the young Kaguya.

“Well then, go to this location if your clan ever does anything to make you want to defect from them!” The white eyed man pulled out a very small map. He handed it to the young Kaguya member. “The name is Yami, by the way… What’s yours?”

“Taketori.”

“Well then, Taketori, hide that map well! That location will trigger an alarm, but it is far enough away that you can  _ maaaybe _ use some diplomacy to join us…” Yami then winked at Taketori. “Well then, I bid you farewell! Hopefully we can become great friends in the future!” Before he left, Yami looked at him one more time. “Oh, and if you’re going to bring friends with you, make sure they are the  _ sane  _ members of your family. My sister just  _  hates  _ infighting…” Yami then left Taketori to recover.

In the present time, Taketori debates with himself. This is his chance to leave. To start anew. He then uses his Dead Bone Pulse bloodline limit to retrieve the map given to him by Yami, which he hid in his body, so his father won’t find it.

_ ‘Well, time to gather the sane ones to start anew.’  _ He thinks to himself. He then leaves to do just that.


	3. Time with the Family

Madara arrives at his home hours after his meeting with the Kaguya clan in a relatively good mood. While he is still a bit salty from the White Eyed Demon humiliating him, manipulating those War-minded Kaguya clan is always an effective way to improving his mood. Oh, yes… he HAS done this before… Multiple times, in fact. Hey, if they can’t see beyond their bloodlust, it’s their own fault! Madara never tells them they HAD to do stupid things… They just do it themselves! They are lucky they are one of the most durable clan in the lands.

Once Madara reaches his room, he changes out of his mostly dry clothes and into a fresh, new set. Once he finishes, he leaves his room to train in preparation for the inevitable rematch with the White Eyed Demon, which he _will_ attempt, once he gains more information on her. Someone is bound to know _something_ about her and her family! That long-ranged, chakra-fueled kick is something _none_ of his other enemies ever did! If only he had his Sharingan active at the time… It would have helped! Though the way she swung her legs… Madara deduces that, unlike majority of the shinobi population, she can probably release chakra from _more_ than just her hands and feet! She _must_ be from a clan! But WHICH?! He _will_ figure it out, one day!

“Brother?”

Madara looks back in response to those words. He stands, face to face, to his last remaining sibling, Izuna. Izuna, keeping himself up with a walking stick, stares back, questioningly.

“Where were you? You were gone longer than you said you would be.” 

To tell the truth or to lie? Izuna REALLY hates the Senju and will probably react accordingly. Also, there’s the whole humiliation that ruined Madara’s predicted time of his return…

On the other hand, Madara can’t lie to his brother. Izuna is the one person who knows him so well! Madara was hoping that once he and Hashirama finds a suitable location for a village, the two of them will spend the rest of the ceasefire in hopes of finding a way to placate their clan’s hate for one another. 

He has no idea why his clan hates the Senju so much. The Senju’s strong body compliments the Uchiha’s eye prowess so well! A child between the two clans can become a _God_. No one ever listens to Madara’s unification idea, though.

Well, time for the ugly truth, then…

“I was with Hashirama-” Before Madara can finish, Izuna interrupts him.

“What were you doing with the enemy?!” Just as he expects. It must be in their blood to forever hate the Senju. Madara suspects that he is the one freak exception.

“He had an idea!”

“And you listened?!”

No good. Izuna’s hate towards the Senju just burns as intensely as the Sun… And that is BEFORE that brother-hurting asshat Tobirama crippled him! This is going to be a long explanation… and that is not counting the real reason for Madara’s lateness: the humiliation.

Speaking of asshat, at another location, Hashirama is sulking as his brother, Tobirama, chides him for doing things that impacts the clan without consulting him. Why is Tobirama so mean about this? True, a lot of their people die at the hands of the Uchiha, but those battles were mostly funded by the lords, damn it! If an alliance forms between their clans, the lords will no longer be able to force a battle between them! They will just need to work with forgiveness. But no one ever listens to him… People listen to Tobirama, however. If Hashirama can convince him that this is a great idea, the rest of the clan will listen!

At this moment, Tobirama finally ends his rant. “Do you understand?”

Hashirama continues in his sulking. “Yes, Tobi…” He then realizes the opportunity in front of him. Now that his brother is no longer steaming at him, the pause he needs is right there! He will need to do this in a way to convince his brother… It is now time to test his ability to sway a person.

“Okay, I know that for generations, the Uchiha and Senju have always been at war with each other…” A great opening, if Hashirama does say so, himself. “As a result of all these wars, we became strong, but so did the Uchiha clan…” And now, for the main hook. “But imagine if we join our strengths with the Uchiha? No longer will we lose our numbers to the Uchiha clan. As a single alliance, we will be unstoppable! Other clans will fear us… We can enter an era of peace!” Fish, meet hook. And now, for the meal! “We can let children be children until they are ready to become a shinobi! We can spend our new found time to create new techniques to better protect our people… We can build a facility to better train the ninjas of tomorrow!”

While Tobirama isn’t a fan of children, he loves using that smart brain of his to create new techniques and teach his fellow clansmen… And Hashirama is going to ABUSE the HELL out of that little fact. He can see Tobirama almost _crack_ at the little speech. Hashirama believes that he deserves a cheer for convincing his stubborn brother.

“Alright, I can see the benefit of this…” Yup, Hashirama wins, for once! “I’ll think about it. Once you are made the clan head, we’ll talk about this some more.” Hashirama cheers inwardly at this.

“By the way, how did you and Madara end up in river with your weapons and armor missing? You two are too powerful to be defeated by a single enemy.”

Ah, yes… The Ruiner of Dreams… Hashirama returns to his sulking. “That woman beat me with a _fruit_ …”

Tobirama stares blankly at him. “You’re joking, right?” Tobirama just doesn’t know anymore. THAT is a stupid way to lose… Unless the area Hashirama speaks of contains a monstrous, colossal fruit with a hardness that can break rocks.

Of course, no such fruit exists in the heart of the Land of Fire. There is a giant forest, however, which Hyuuga Haru, the fruit _user_ , is glaring at. Due to her clan earning a lot of money from assassination missions that the lords pay them a LOT for (since the targets always end up dying with what people believe is a heart attack), they have been delaying the one thing that will make them even MORE self-sufficient: agriculture.

While the soil is great in this area, Haru can’t figure out how they can produce their own food while remaining _hidden_. Oh, her people know how to farm. They have a tendency to get so _bored_ , they will double as shinobi _and_ farmer back in their old home. In fact, her clan grew so _bored_ when they moved here two years ago, several people used their chakra, and transformed it into _fire_ , somehow. There was then a period of her people seeing if they can do it with the other elements, and they _could_.

Of course, that weird time is over, now. While chakra-to-element transformation is a neat trick (that uses a LOT of chakra, especially for the more destructive feats), it is about a year since her people mastered it, and now, her clan is growing bored… _again_. Haru curses her clan’s ability to just control their chakra like it is a normal thing! Other clans train to achieve such a control!

Her clan’s quickness to boredom is starting to piss her off! They act so _weird_ once their mind’s stimulation stops! Last time she checked, the head healer was cutting himself to see if he can use chakra to heal a wound faster than the medicinal cream her clan currently uses. He almost died of bloodloss… That idiot…

And now, Haru realizes that she is NOT thinking of a discreet way to farm! To make it worse, she can sense her happy-go-lucky brother approach.

“Ah, my sweet sister! Why the glare? I’m sure the trees did nothing to deserve such treatment!” Her brother says in a jovial manner.

Haru just glares at him. “Shut up, Yami… I’m doing my job as the clan head! You’re ruining my thinking space!” Haru returns her glare to the trees.

“Ah, but thinking is done in another world entirely! The physical world is where I walk and speak… There is no way I can interact with your mental world!”

Haru can feel her blood pump. “Stop trying to sound smarter than you actually are! You’ll give me heart problems with all the shit that leaves your mouth…”

Yami just flips his hair at this. “Feces..? Leave my mouth of someone who achieved _perfection_ such as I? Perish the thought!” Of all the delusional crap… He is _lucky_ he is next in line to lead _and_ he is a skillful warrior! No one will tolerate his shit otherwise.

As Haru thinks of ways to convince her clan that her brother is, in no _way_ her relative, a Yamanaka clan member lands in front of her. “Lady Haru, our border seal has been triggered. The one that triggered it came with others. They don’t seem to be moving from their spot, however. What are your orders, ma’am?”

One problem after another. Well, better than dealing with Yami’s narcissism. “I’ll check it out… Yami, back me up. Stay hidden and do _nothing_ unless I give you an order. Yamanaka, inform the others then establish a mental link with me, just in case they are hostile.”

“Yes, ma’am!” The Yamanaka leaves.

“Alright, Yami, let’s go!”

“Roger that!” Despite Yami’s endless stupidity, at the very least, he can follow orders. Small blessings, they were. Haru activates her Byakugan, looking for the disturbance before heading to its direction.

At the location of the disturbance, Kaguya Taketori waits. With him are about fifty other of his fellow clansmen who, like him, wishes to denounce their ties with their clan. Enough is enough! They will one day fight their way to extinction. It is only a matter of time. To die in such a meaningless way… The sane Kaguyas want NONE of that crap! 

It is fortunate that, for whatever freak reason, those who possess the Dead Bone Pulse bloodline are not as prone to bloodlust as their bloodlineless, but more belligerent clansmen. Of course those with the bloodline are treated like crap despite their battle potential. Something about being so weak that they _need_ to rely on their ability. Fortunately, they aren’t put in prisons for having the ability. Taketori predicts that future children will be though, due to this betrayal. Taketori vows that he will have _his_ future descendents save his clan, one day…  

He waits a little longer, and a woman appears from the trees, looking as she is about to spit fire.

“Alright, you jerkoffs… I know that you are waiting for me or something, so _obviously_ you are here for a reason. Just to warn you, I have _allies_ , so don’t you dare try anything stupid!” She means it. Fortunately, Taketori and company have no reason to fight. He gets on his knees and bows to her. The rest of the clan follows.

“Ma’am, we are not here for a battle. We wish to join you in an alliance. We have defected from our clan and wish to start anew… While we have no money in our name, we offer our bodies for you to do as you please. I believe my clan’s bloodline can be of use for you…”

Haru raises an eyebrow. “Oh? And what bloodline do you have? It better be useful…”

“We possess the bloodline known as Dead Bone Pulse… It gives our body _tremendous_ durability and life force… We wish to work with you… We only ask that you treat us, if not as an equal in the battlefield, then as an ally…”

Haru looks at them thoughtfully. Yes, such people will be useful to her… As strong as the Akimichi are, their durability is _nothing_ in comparison to the powerhouse that is the Senju clan. It’s like they are related to a God or something! She will need to fully look into this group’s apparent durability.

“Alright, I’m interested. So, any downside to this bloodline of yours?”

Ah, Taketori is a bit hesitant to answer. What if she sees them too much of a hassle to be of use? Well, better she knows now than finding out later. “It is an unfortunate thing with our bodies, but those with the Dead Bone Pulse have a different physiology from other people. It causes our illness to be almost incurable, due to how little info there are with our bodies…” The Kaguya clan have absolutely _zero_ funds for medics. If it wasn’t for their high birth rate, the clan would have died out long ago.

Haru sees this as a blessing in disguise. Finally, something to distract the healers! While chakra-only related activities can be learned relatively quickly by her clan, things involving physiology takes them time. This is the _perfect_ distraction for their boredom! Especially for those damn experimental healers! And, if these guys are as strong as they sound, they should make a great sparring partner! Yup, just need to test their sincerity… Ah, the blessing of having the Yamanaka clan as allies…

“Alright, you’ve caught my attention… I’ll need to have your loyalty checked… And you’ll have to tell me about your clan, so I can get a better picture them. I’ll take you to one of our underground interrogation facility. If you are as sincere as you claim in your defection, then you have nothing to worry about from us…” Luckily, this is only a small group. The screening should be a snap. Haru has one more question, though...

“By the way, you were just _standing_ here… As if you knew something… My clan worked _hard_ to remain a faceless, nameless group of warriors only known to the rest of the lands by our symbol worn _only_ when taking missions from the lords… And I made sure to follow our secretive ways by hiding out in this forest so none can witness our private life… How did you find the _exact_ location for one of our alarms?”

“Oh, I once fought with a man named Yami. He defeated me, but he was impressed with my abilities.” Taketori pulls out the small map that was given to him. “He gave me this map, to this particular spot. He said if I ever wanted to leave my clan, I can find his clan here…”

“HE DID WHAT?!” Haru is livid. Of all the stupid things… This place is supposed to be _hidden_! People are suppose to pass by and think, ‘Oh. What a lovely forest!’ And then those that pass by and think, ‘This is a great place for a village!’ will be tied and gagged and convinced to _never_ come back! That idiot.

“YAMI, GET OVER HERE!” She is going to have a _long_ talk with her brother.


	4. Tall tales

Oh? What’s this? It seems that Haru, his dear older sister, is calling to him. Could it be that she finally recognizes his hidden… _talent_ … at negotiations? Ah, and with such enthusiasm..! He wishes that his dear sister will notice his talents in other fields. After all, he is just the _perfect_ specimen of a Hyuuga…

He leaves his hiding spot, landing next to his sister.

“ _Yeeees_..? How may I offer my services, dear sister?” Yami flashes her his debonair smile.

She responds with a scowl. Ah, such a painful sight! Why must she further ruin her womanly charms with such savage displays? It is no wonder she is unmarried as she is.

“Stop with the happy! Why the hell did you tell this guy about our village? Our _HIDDEN_ village?!” So much creases on her delicate face..! To waste away a face born from the same womb as he… It breaks his heart!

“ _Weeeeell_ , it is a bit of a _loooong_ story…” Her scowl deepens.

“Start talking…” Oh, she finally takes an interest in his knowledge..! This day could NOT get any better!

“You see, dear sister… Unlike you, _I_ have an opportunity to travel…” He closes his eyes, recounting his magnificent adventures throughout all the five lands. “In these travels, I hear of… legends… I took it upon myself to seek the truth of these tales… All my hard research resulted in what is happening today…” He opens his eyes then flashes his magnificent smile. He points an elegant finger towards Taketori. “Fighting him allowed me to realize the truth within the tales…”

“Oh..? Then tell me of your discovery, O _Wise_ One…” And she finally acknowledges his wisdom..! The day CAN get better!

“This is the tale of a powerful princess… A rabbit moon princess… The Tale of the Rabbit Moon Goddess, Kaguya!” At this, Yami notices Taketori raise an eyebrow. Perhaps he knows of this tale..? Yami makes a mental note to inquire him later.

“Long ago, in the Kingdom of the Moon, there lived a Queen by the name of Serenity. With her is the King of Earth by the name of Endymion who, for the name of Peace, left his people to have a deal with the Moon Kingdom… There was just no _way_ the Earth army can defeat Serenity’s eight Celestial Guardians! Plus, the Queen herself can revive them if they ever perish… The war lasted centuries, so much death and destruction, before-”

“Cut it out with the damn backstory, and get to the point!” His dear sister interrupts. She just has _no_ appreciation for effective storytelling… The Tale of the Moon Queen and Earth King is a wonderful prologue to Kaguya’s tale, full of love, betrayal, politics… Ah, he will tell her in another time…

“ _Fiiiiine_ … Some things won’t make much sense, though.

“ _Anyways_ … There is peace, thanks to the marriage between the Moon Queen and Earth King. From the consummation of their marriage, Kaguya is born, possessing the beautiful silver hair of her mother and the royal indigo eyes of her father… _She_ is the sign of the union of the Earth and the Moon…

“But, alas! Not everyone is convinced of their love! For there are traitors in the midst of the Moon, planning the assassination of the Royal Matriarch and her family, severing the peace forever… Fortunately, the King heard tales of the assassination, so he consults Her Majesty…

“Together, they send their daughter, Kaguya, to Earth… She is placed in a pod, to sleep until she is strong enough to create peace between the two warring Kingdoms… Alas, the time for that will take… a _long_ while… To better prepare her, the Queen, with the help of the King, sacrificed their life to put the Moon in a state of limbo, which will last until the awakening of the Moon Princess…

“Of course, her pod can only be opened by the sharpest and strongest of blades, wielded by the purest of Hearts, as a security measure…” Yami then snaps his fingers then points at Taketori. “It is HE who is the sharpest and strongest of blades!” Yami then points at himself. “And _I,_ the purest of Hearts! Together, we shall awaken this princess, and create peace on Earth and Moon!” Haru is now pulling at her hair, eyes wild and teeth clenching… Oh, is she about to tear up..? Has she never heard of such a _beautiful_ tale..?

“And now, you see, dear sister, I-” Before he can finish, Haru makes her move, lowering her body, striking her palm to the ground so she can use her chakra to use the earth as a makeshift glove. Using lightning element on her legs, she speeds herself towards her brother, striking him _hard_ , causing him to fly towards a tree and lose consciousness.

“THAT IS THE STUPIDEST SHIT I’VE EVER HEARD!”

Kaguya Taketori is in awe at the display of power. This woman is not someone to be taken lightly. And, seeing as her brother is mostly physically _okay_ from the powerful strike, despite his stupidity, Yami isn’t to be taken lightly, either… Taketori WAS beaten by him, once upon a time.

Haru pinches the bridge of her nose. “Sorry about that… My brother just… _pisses_ me off in ways you won’t _believe_ …”

Taketori just nods. “Yes, I can see how… He seemed more dignified, if a bit flamboyant, when we first met…”

“Yeah, you’ll get used to it…” She walks over to her unconscious brother, grabbing one of his arm. “Alright, let’s check your honesty…”

Taketori nods, following his future ally, while thinking of Yami’s tale. He is curious with _where_ Yami found such a tale. It sounds more like a children’s story from a time of peace. Or could it be a historical tale which, over time, changes between the storyteller and the listener?

That isn’t the only vague tale around, however. Madara, after finishing his explanations to his brother, sits in front of the Uchiha clan Stone Tablet inside their shrine. It is a stone as old as the clan is, going as far as the time _before_ the clan is known as the Uchiha clan. On the tablet is a script of why Senjus are jerks and why they should keep fighting… Well, that is what most of his clansmen say…

The truth is, NONE of them can read this crap! It is written with symbols and pictographs that no one can make sense of. But, it is part of their identity, so his clan has been lugging the hunk of rock around for generations.

Madara once thought about reading it with his Sharingan, but that would be a waste of the use of his eyes… Well, maybe one day… Actually, he has nothing better to do today, after the exhausting talk with his brother. Might as well…

Madara gathers his chakra, redirecting it to his eyes. His Sharingan activates then he looks at the tablet. Huh, his eyes are translating it, somehow… Well, part of it… All he can make out is Kaleidoscope, Kaguya, beasts, Infinite, and clan… Well, that is NOT useful at all! He deactivates his Sharingan. One thing is for sure, however… His clansmen are just plain _wrong_ about the contents! True, Madara can only read part of it, but there is no mention of the Senju, here! Madara thinks about how he will rub it in the face of those elders, so sure about the destiny of the Uchiha and Senju clan… He just needs to figure out a way to fully decipher the tablet…

Madara looks outside. It is getting dark. He rises then leaves, contemplating about dinner. Hashirama is a vegetarian. He is probably eating some produce, or something… which he grows with his Wood Release… And here, Madara has to WORK for his food! If there is one thing Madara hates about his rival, it is the fact that, overtime, he gets BETTER than him, at an impressive pace! He even wins at this food thing! Maybe Madara can use his Susano’o to cook up something BIG! But then, Hashirama can do the same with his Wood Release… Damn that man! A counter for each of his ability! Maybe his dream with pectoral-Hashirama is a sign or something… to gain power…

Madara shakes his head at this. No reason to get competitive with a man who isn’t even here… It is almost dinner time! He enters the food storage, still contemplating on what to eat. His brother isn’t joining him today, since it is his turn to be watching over their comatose father at the sickbay. Their father probably won’t make it out of this, but Madara won’t miss him. He is the _other_ reason for his brother’s crippled state _but_ , his brother refuses to see this logic. Once Madara is head, he _will_ find a way to help his brother! Other clans have better healers than their own… It is time to throw away the Uchiha pride and seek help when it is necessary…

Madara settles with having tofu and rice for dinner. With those, he can create his favourite food: Inarizushi. Hey, he deserves it! Today is a crappy day! A small ray of light is all he asks for… He heads back to his home and into the small cooking area to prepare his dinner. Once he finishes making it, he eats.

As he eats, Madara thinks about the Stone Tablet. Kaleidoscope… Could that be referring to the Mangekyou Sharingan? A shame he can barely read most of it. Kaguya _can_ refer to the Kaguya clan, but why would the Uchiha ancestor carry a rock around that has info on ANOTHER clan? That’s crazy talk. Beasts is too general and can mean anything… Infinite… Infinite power..? Infinite chakra? Hmm, this might be interesting… And clan… Most likely it refers to Uchiha clan…

After finishing his mean, Madara decides to try and read the tablet, again. This time, by using his Mangekyou Sharingan! Maybe he can gain better clarity! Despite the fact that his eyes are deteriorating! Well, so long as he uses none of his Mangekyou Sharingan techniques, it should be fine.

He returns to the shrine, in front of the tablet.

“Mangekyou Sharingan!” With his Mangekyou Sharingan active, he looks at the tablet. Huh, he can actually decipher more, now. He reads the tablet.

When you see someone close to you die, your Sharingan tomoe becomes a kaleidoscope. This means MORE power. Use it! You can even control giant chakra constructs know as a tailed beast. _Very_ useful.

That information is useless… and it has NOTHING to do with the Senju. Those elders ARE idiots who don’t know what they are talking about. Madara continues reading.

Long ago, the great Princess Kaguya ruled these lands in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Ten-tails struck.

Only the Sage of Six Paths, master of all Chakra Nature, could stop it.

With the power at his command, he used Planetary Devastation to stop the beast, creating the Moon.

To prevent its rebirth, he sealed the beast’s chakra within himself, becoming the world’s first Martyr.

Soon, he brought peace and harmony back to these lands, which is what earned him the title of Savior of this World.

In his deathbed, he split the beast into nine smaller ones.

In his passing, his responsibilities are bequeathed to his sons.

Unfortunately, his sons fail in fulfilling their responsibilities of world balance.

Only you, who reads the whole inscription can fulfill the Sage’s will.

Well, that is interesting… Madara does not know how to feel about this. For one thing, he can’t read the whole thing. The rest of the tablet contains broken sentences that he can’t comprehend. And for another thing, those idiot Senju haters ARE stupid with this whole eternal destiny to fight them. He wonders why no one EVER tries to read this with their Sharingan. Then again, he is only able to read that far with his Mangekyou Sharingan. Only he and Izuna have these eyes. Madara has no intention to ruin his entire clan’s belief at this moment, though.

Madara yawns. It is getting late. He returns to his home, preparing to sleep. Before falling to a state of sleep, Madara thinks about Hashirama. Now that the plan to create a village is a bust, what will they do now? This ceasefire will only last so long, and neither of them have the power to direct their clan’s actions.

At the Senju clan’s dwellings, Hashirama thinks the same thing. While his brother sees the benefits, convincing the rest of the Senju clan will be harder, even with Tobirama’s support. What will be more difficult is convincing his father, Butsuma. He lost two sons and his wife to the Uchiha, and now he is on the verge of death. Allying with the Uchiha will be like forgiving the murderers of his family.

Hashirama sighs. Perhaps they can try joining that lady’s alliance? She isn’t fond of either he or Madara, though. This is a difficult.

Hashirama decides not to worry about this, right now. He closes his eyes and lets slumber take its hold.


	5. Coronation

It is such a beautiful day, with the birds chirping and the flowers blooming. On days like this, it is the perfect time for a no holds barred beatdown.

“Again!” Taketori groans. Despite the fact that his body is nigh indestructible, Haru can still manage to hit his weak spots enough to actually make him feel pain. And that is WITHOUT using her chakra. For the first time in the one week he’s been here, they spar, and she is handing him his rear end like a Master Chef.

One week. Today is the one week mark since Taketori and some of his fellow clansmen defected from the Kaguya clan.

Wanting no ties from their former clan, they opted to drop the name. And to prove their loyalty further after the Yamanaka clan checked it themselves, the defectors took it upon themselves to hunt down the Kaguya scouts searching for this village. Those scouts seem to have given up, for now. No doubt that they now know that there are defectors from the clan that joined their enemy.

And now, Taketori is sparring with the de facto leader of this village, losing like a newborn calf fighting against a lioness. It is a bit humiliating, but she is skillful with her body! He is LUCKY he heals fast or he would be bedridden for weeks with the broken bones her moves can inflict on a normal human. But, everyone trusts her in everything. So, he decides to trust her not to permanently injure him. He did question people on why they trust her so much.

“You’ll find out.” Is all they ever say to him.

Even talking with other Hyuuga clansmen, he learns of their seemingly unbreakable trust. However, speaking with other Hyuugas, he also learns that Haru and Yami are a _wee_ bit different from majority of their clan. The Hyuuga clan exhibits grace and calm. Those two rarely ever do so. Despite that, however, their clan trusts them to lead or, in the case of Yami, they trust him not to do anything _too_ stupid.

“Stay long enough, and you will see why.” Is what they tell him when he asks.

A week is not long enough, it seems. Taketori rises, his shoulder joint smarting from Haru twisting it in a way it just shouldn’t.

“Can we… take a break..?”

“Fine…” They share a comfortable silence. Haru, eventually, breaks it.

“By the way, your clan has spoken… You are now their leader.”

“What?!”

“Oh, and they want you to handle their marriages. Fifty people is NOT a viable gene pool. Congratulations, you are now their pimp.”

“WHAT?!” Ah, another thing about her that is different from the rest of the Hyuugas. She uses NONE of her time to gently tell someone about some big news.

Taketori worries about his new position that is thrown at him. Can he truly lead?

Elsewhere, Madara is also worrying about leadership. His father is now dead. Good riddance. That guy is a terrible father! However, he can command this clan with ease… Madara can’t even get his brother to listen to him and now, the both of them are the new clan leaders.

This ruins all his plans! With Madara alone on the side of “Create Gods with Senju”, there is NO easy way for him to start his Unification Plan!

The village thing was a way to break the tension between their clans! They would reluctantly live together, then Madara and Hashirama would find a way to get their clans to interact with civility towards one another, then play it by ear for a few years, then BAM! Marriages between the two clans! But that White Eyed Demon ruined that dream…

Madara feels angry, now. From his information gathering the past week, he comes up with nothing on the woman! It appears that no one has any information on white eyed people who can use chakra to kick at a long range.

“Er, was she blind?” Is what everyone asks him when he describes her. They mock him! Insinuating that he can be beaten by a blind person. He’ll show them! Once he figures out how to force that woman to fight him, he’ll show EVERYONE that he wasn’t defeated by someone that’s _blind_. NO! He was beaten by a… a… a CHEATER! Only Hashirama and, on occasions, Tobirama and Izuna can beat Madara in a fair fight! Well, his brother can’t really count anymore, but that isn’t the point!

Madara decides to go for a walk to clear his mind. He meets his brother on the way.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’m going for a walk.” Izuna glares at him for this.

“Well, don’t go off having meetings with the enemy…” Madara nods and leaves their dwellings.

Madara runs at high speed, ending up at the place where he and Hashirama first met… in which Madara beat Hashirama in rock skipping… Hey, Hashirama never _threw_ a rock! So Madara’s one splash toss is a _win_ . Of course, Madara _might_ just be ignoring parts of his childhood, but he _honestly_ doesn’t remember Hashirama ever tossing a stone…

He then decides to see how much improvement he has in comparison to when he was little, so he grabs a rock. Madara closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. He empties his mind from all the things that piss him off… They will only be a distraction… He then starts to empty his mind from the dark thoughts that dwell within him. On and on he clears himself from his emotions, detaching them to make him an emotional husk. Finally, he clears his mind from the things that make him joyful. His focus is now one hundred percent. He snaps his eyes open, and throws…

The rock skips once, sinking at the second splash…

Huh, there is not much in the realm of improvement here. Madara steams at this. He can throw his shurikens and kunai accurately, from a relatively far distance… He can do the same feats with his tanto… If he _really_ wants, he can even throw his kama very accurately… with a chain connecting to a heavy iron ball as an attachment! But these rocks refuse. To. Skip.

Before Madara can complete his jutsu he is going to use to melt every single stone in the area, an anomaly occurs.

“Hi, Madara!” Hashirama pops out from the ground that was seconds away from being immolated for Madara’s temper.

Madara falls on his rear, eyes wide with his heart pounding from Hashirama’s appearance.

“Don’t just pop out from the ground like it is the normal thing to do!” Hashirama’s mood lowers at this. Madara rises and pats off the dirt off his posterior. “And when the hell did you learn to _become_ the ground?!” At this, Hashirama smiles.

“Oh, I just discovered this recently! I was meditating on top of a really high tree, then I suddenly realized that I can become one with nature… Pretty cool, huh?”

“Yeah, whatever…” Silence. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

At this, Hashirama’s face becomes serious. “Our time for ceasefire is getting shorter and shorter… How are we going to prevent the battle that will inevitably take place?”

Madara can feel the gravity of this situation. “My father recently died and I am now made leader along with my brother. A lot of people still won’t listen to my proposal of peace to your people.”

Hashirama nods. “Yeah, my father died, as well. Me and Tobi lead the clan, now. I managed to convince Tobi to see the benefit of joining with your clan, but he also pointed out that a lot of our people will be harder to convince, even with him helping me.”

This surprises Madara. Tobirama is a stubborn one. “How did you convince your brother?”

Hashirama beams at this. “I made a dramatic speech! I targeted his love for learning and teaching! It was the best speech I’ve ever made.” Hashirama thinks. “You think a speech will convince your brother? You’ll need to target the thing he values most!”

Madara glares at him. “What Izuna values most… is getting revenge for what Tobirama did to him… And I can’t make a speech on the fly! Especially to my brother… He’ll know that I’m trying to manipulate him!”

Hashirama just pats Madara on the back. “Well, I can’t tell you how to run your clan… Also, I have to go. I have some clan related stuff that needs to be handled ASAP!” Hashirama starts to walk away, but looks back to Madara once more. “We’ll figure it out! I know we will!” Hashirama smiles brightly at Madara, then heads off towards his destination: the Village Hidden in the Eddies.

It was very recent that Hashirama and his brother became the leaders of the Senju clan after their father’s death. It gave Hashirama hope that he can better sway his clan to the path of peace, but Tobirama pointed out that a bloody history like theirs is hard to forget. Tobirama also points out that Hashirama now needs to put his people ahead of himself and earn their trust as the clan leader. So, when reports of the nine tailed fox recovering from its last ‘death’ came to his attention, Hashirama went to full leader mode.

The tailed beasts are dangerous creatures. No matter how many times people kill them, they always come back angrier. It takes about five to ten years for one to recover their ‘death’. Unfortunately, the nine tailed fox was killed very close to the Senju clan’s current location. There is no doubt about its impending rage. A lot of people will die if they battle with it. So, Hashirama proposes that, rather than fighting to the death with the beast or relocating, they seal the beast instead. Unfortunately, the Senju clan, with their many talents, are just not capable of sealing the beast, even in its weak state.

Fortunately, the Uzumaki clan of the Hidden Eddies village are master sealers, and they might have just the thing to help. It is fortunate that they are a close ally with the Senju clan.

The journey to the Hidden Eddies village takes Hashirama three days. His clan can slow down the ninetail’s revival for about ten days, giving him plenty of time. Once he enters, an old man greets him.

“Welcome to our village, Senju Hashirama.” His name is Uzumaki Ashina, the current leader of this village.

“Ashina, I need your help and your clan is the perfect one for the job.”

“Oh, what do you need my clan for?” Hashirama can see the seriousness in Ashina’s eyes. He understands the seriousness of the situation.

“I need someone to help seal a tailed beast that is about to recover from the last battle it had. My clan does not know any seal strong enough to lock it up in a scroll and we can only hold it down for so long…”

“Hmm, it sounds powerful… Which beast is it?”

“The nine tailed fox.”

“Yes, that is _very_ powerful… Unfortunately, I myself can’t help you with this at the moment, but I know someone who can.” Ashina motions for Hashirama to follow. They reach one of the dwellings and enter. A woman with red hair in two buns has her back to them, reading a scroll. “Mito, this is Senju Hashirama. He needs your help with an important matter.”

The woman turns around, an easy smile on her face. “Nice to meet you, Senju Hashirama. What do you need help with?”

Hashirama smiles. He can feel that she possesses a very strong chakra. She is perfect for the job.


	6. Nine

Hashirama wakes up, feeling like he’s been in a weird coma for weeks… Maybe even a month or so… Huh, what did he drink, last night? Or the night before? Or even _before_ the night before? And where is he, anyway?

He exits the room, and meets up with Ashina. So, he’s at the Hidden Eddies Village, huh? Ashina’s eyes widen when he sees Hashirama.

“Welcome to our village, Senju Hashirama… I apologize, I had no idea you would be arriving…” Ah, poor Ashina… Hashirama feels like the old leader is starting to become forgetful in his old age…

“It’s okay… Actually, I think I’ve been here since yesterday… Or maybe weeks… I can’t tell…” Ashina’s eyebrows expresses his surprise.

“I see… Please forgive this old man… My memory is not what it used to be…” Hashirama bows to him.

“Don’t worry about it… I’ll probably be the same in my old age.” He leaves to find someone who can tell him how long he’s been here… And WHY he’s here, for that matter. He searches until he finds Mito, drinking some… thing… He is honestly not sure. She perks up when she sees him.

“Care to join me for some tea, Hashirama?” Ah, tea… Well, not like he has anything better to do, at the moment.

He makes his way to sit across from Mito. Hashirama stares at the teacup in front of him. According to Mito, the tea and teacup are from a foreign land. The teacup itself is made from a smooth, white material with flowery decorations gilding the rim of the cup and a handle for the drinker to grab onto. Underneath the cup is a small plate of some kind bearing the same flowery decorations as the cup. A saucer, Mito tells him.

Hashirama reaches out with his left hand to hold onto the saucer and he lifts it, with the cup and all. With his right hand, he holds onto the cup, his pinky finger sticking out. He brings the cup to his mouth, sipping his tea. Returning the cup to the saucer, he reaches for a biscuit, another foreign treat from the land Hashirama is sure he hasn’t visited at this point. He takes a bite, relishing the sweet taste. Nine biscuits remains...

He is having one hell of a relaxing time. However...

“Huh, as nice as this is… I can’t help but feel like I forgot something…” Hashirama tells to no one in particular. “By the way, what time is it? I feel like I’ve slept for too long…”

Mito responds by forming a hand seal. The roof of her house opens up, a beam of light shining through, beaming towards a small, circular table with a triangular rock of some kind pointing towards the sky. Mito stands, walking towards the ‘table’ or whatever. Is it even a table? Hashirama squints. The ‘table’ has weird symbols on it.

“According to the sundial, it is now nine o'clock… Quite early, actually… What makes you feel like you’ve been asleep for too long?” Mito pulls out a pipe, inserting some plant material into it and lighting it up, afterwards. She then takes a long drag from the mouthpiece of the pipe, exhaling after the smoke had its ways with her alveoli. “Shit, that’s good…” Mito offers him her pipe. “Want some?”

Hashirama remains silent for a while. It would be rude to refuse a generous offer, but his father used to smoke. And Butsuma would always tell him, _‘_ This is hashish. It belongs to _me_ , ya got it? I may have named you after this little slice of heaven, but that doesn’t mean you can have any! Understand?’

To which he would ask, ‘Daddy, why am I named after those funny smelling grass?’

And his father would reply with, ‘That’s how you were made, kid…’ Hashirama still doesn’t understand what his father was implying. He always assumed that it was a leader thing.

And now, he, Hashirama, is the leader! He now possesses the right to use the things in which he was made from! He gives Mito a big grin. “Yeah, I would love some! This is the perfect way to solidify my position as the Senju clan leader.”

“Alright. Let me get the other pipes. This one is a favorite of mine.” Mito reaches under the table, pulling out a box. She opens it and Hashirama peers inside. It seems to be a variety pack of different pipe designs. There was ten in all, though one is missing. Hashirama presumes that it is probably the one Mito is using. So, only nine remains. He picks the one with the animal design; an orange fox with a ferocious display of fangs. It looks awesome. Perfect for the awesomeness that is Senju Hashirama!

Mito opens the top of the fox head. It is hollow inside, and she fills it with the plant material before igniting it. Hashirama copies Mito’s earlier action, inhaling deeply, letting the smog caress his lungs, then exhaling. “Wow, that IS good…” Yeah, he and Mito are getting along JUST fine, right now.

Later in the afternoon, however, their small bubble of peace encounters a pointed needle in the form of a child. “Mito!” The child whines petulantly. “Grandpa said, many times, that you ‘Stop smoking that shit and do your job!’”

Mito glares at the little squirt. “Shut up, you little shit! And knock before you enter someone’s house! I have company!” She waves her hands towards Hashirama’s general direction. “Also, what job? We learn voodoo that we don’t actually use, then we embellish their potency to our enemies… Not really a job, if you ask me…”

The child glares at her. “I’m telling grandpa!” The child leaves them to their session.

“Who was that? Is she a relative of yours?” Hashirama asks, his pipe hanging off his mouth.

“Oh, that thing..? Eh, that was Kyurei, my niece…” Nine… zero? A strange name.

“She has an… interesting name…”

“Yeah, my sister stopped caring with names after the third one… So, she names them by numbers, with the last half as a zero or one… Zero for girls, one for boys… Well, Kyurei is her ninth child, and she’s a girl, sooo…” Mito moves her hand in a circular motion. “Yeah… You get the point…” She returns with her smoking.

Hashirama, however, has a growing nagging feeling in the back of his head… Like, the world itself is trying to remind him of something important. He looks at his fox pipe before taking a long drag. Fox..? Nine? Nine… NINE!

The smoke enters the wrong pipe, and Hashirama coughs. Mito stands to get behind him and proceeds to smack his back. “Woah, where’s the fire? You didn’t have trouble with that earlier…”

“The Kyuubi!” Hashirama panics, his eyes open so wide that it looks as if it will pop off at anytime.

“Oh..? Yeeeeah… Whatever happened to that thing..?” Mito squeals in surprise as Hashirama grabs her kimono’s collar.

“It’s in my village! Reviving itself! AND I FORGOT ABOUT IT!” Hashirama is sweating large, moist pearls, now, thinking of the prospects of the tailed beast eviscerating his people and how his brother will haunt him for this little screw up. “My brother’s going to kill me…”

“Ooookay… So, what are you doing in this village if yours is in the process of being leveled..?” Mito’s eyes are still a bit hazy. She is too high to care, at the moment.

“Because! Your seals! I came here for help! I don’t know how I forgot about it!” Hashirama thinks back. After his first night here, everything becomes a blur. There are events here and there, but the transitions between them are… hazy. He looks at Mito. She has no care about the goings on around her, the toxins from her pipe taking away her energy… or something… “Wait, how often do you smoke these things..?”

Mito perks up at this. “Oh, all the time! Sometimes I forget how many weeks I do chain smoking… These things are just awesome..!”

Then, it suddenly clicks to him… He’s been smoking the stuff since day one! Indirectly! And now, his village is screwed…

“Crap, I need to get going!” Hashirama rushes to his temporary lodging, Mito following since she has nothing better to do.

“Go where..? We were juuust getting started! With the getting to the knowing! I likes ya… You’re a great listener!” Mito informs him.

“My village is about be be burned to the ground, and I need to stop it.” Hashirama stops his packing, staring at Mito. “And you’re coming with me…”

Mito balks from her lack of input in the decision making process. “Whaaaat..? Why? A burning village isn’t exactly my first choice of vacation, ya know…”

“This isn’t a vacation! I need you to seal the Kyuubi into a scroll or something! So we don’t have to destroy it every time it resurrects!”

Mito tilts her head to one side, her eyes only half way open. “Whaaat..? But the Kyuubi has… like…” She spreads her arms wide. “THIS much chakra! You’ll have to weaken it first… or it would just break out of the pokeball…”

Hashirama raises an eyebrow. “A what ball?”

Mito ignores his query. “Weeeell, unless you have a master ball…” Mito aims her stare towards Hashirama. “You have one of those..? It would make things SO much easier…”

Hashirama’s eyes twitch. “I don’t have time for this!” He grabs his things along with Mito, dragging her towards her room, taking whatever necessities she might need for the three day journey.

“Heey, this is kinda against my will…” Mito squints, trying to focus on… anything, really. “Next time, I’M choosing our vacation spot!”

“Sure! Whatever! Once you help my clan, you can have your way with me!”

So, they make the journey… Of course, even with Hashirama’s magnificent abilities, there is no ignoring the three day journey between Eddies and the Senju habitat.

They arrive at the scene of a colossal fox chasing a small group of Senju clan members running for their lives. “Well… crap…” Yup. Just as Hashirama suspects, he’s been gone for WAY too long.

“Man… that sure isn’t what I want to see while on vacation…” It appears that Mito STILL isn’t out from her drug haze… This… will be problematic.

“This isn’t a vacation, Mito… You’re here to-” Hashirama couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Where the hell have you BEEN?!” A fuming Tobirama approaches them, his armor broken at some parts, his hair singed off, and his skin enveloped in ash. “Do you have ANY idea how long we’ve been fighting this thing?!”

Hashirama raises his hands in a defensive gesture. “Er, I’ll tell you later…” His eyes slowly darts to the side, stopping at Mito’s general vicinity. “B-but, look! I’ve got an Uzumaki to help out!”

Mito gives Tobirama a sleepy grin. “Sup, dudebro..?” She takes out her pipe. “Want some?”

Tobirama’s mouth lands on the floor, twitching. His eyes also performs the twitching. “She’s… she’s high…”

“Yeah, she said she lost track of how long she was chain smoking…”

Tobirama explodes. “How is this woman going to help us when she can’t tell up from left?!”

“Wooah… That giant orange panda is heading right… towards… here…” Mito observes.

“Quiet, woman! There is no panda!” Tobirama is starting to foam in his mouth.

“Pft! There’s totally a panda!” Mito points to the direction of the village. “See? Panda!”

Tobirama decides to humor her. He readies his scathing retort, but the sight of the nine tailed fox prevents them from leaving his mouth. “Oh, shit!”

Hashirama looks, as well. He reacts quickly, forming a protective wood dome to prevent the three of them from becoming collateral damage of the ninetail’s trail. “Is everyone okay?!”

“Hehe… you have wood…” Mito quips. “Waaait a minute… Wait, wait…”

“What is it, you crazy woman?!” Tobirama is just done with all this poo poo.

“Wood beats ninetails! That’s its elemental weakness!” Mito happily informs them.

Tobirama’s eye twitches. “That thing breathes fire… How the _hell_ is WOOD stronger than FIRE?!”

Mito waves her hand dismissively. “ _Obviously_ , the trainer who owns this ninetails is a cheating hacker… They reversed the ninetail’s elemental attribute, but now... its original strength is its weakness!”

Tobirama turns his head towards his brother’s location, giving him an ‘is-she- _serious_?!’ look. Hashirama shrugs in a ‘just-roll-with-it’ manner. “Alright… I’ll trap it… or something…”

Hashirama takes a deep breath. He uses his ground abilities to become one with nature, sinking to the underground. He senses the ninetails above him. He strikes, forming giant, wooden arms to trap the ninetails. Surprisingly, Mito is right… The ninetails is struggling to escape. No matter how much it chews, the wood arms just grows back. It even tries to blast its prison off, but it is never enough to get it free.

“Well… That happened…” Tobirama just doesn’t know anymore.

Mito pops out from the dome. “Alright! Now, it's time to capture that little dingus!” She opens one of the scroll hiding in her bosom, placing it on the floor. She forms several, complicated hand seals. The scroll reacts, glowing. The sealing... cyphers… or whatever… races towards the ninetails, giving it an unpleasant hug. It roars in defiance, but it is all in vain. The Uzumaki Tailed Beast Sealing™ fulfills its purpose, imprisoning the nine tails into the scroll.

“Whoohoo! Ninetails is now caught! And now…” Mito searches her person. “Ah..? Oh no… I forgot my pokedex…” She slumps at her revelation. “Man, now I have to add the data manually…” Mito slowly collapses onto the ground. “Wake me when it is time for dinner…” She snores away to her dreamland.

Tobirama’s face remains blank. His capacity to react is now gone. “So… Where have _you_ been, dear Hashirama?”

Said brother shrinks at this. He pushes his pointer fingers towards each other, a look of nervousness crawling all over his face. “Well, you see… I was drugged…” Nope. This will NOT be a fun thing to explain.


	7. Let Me Play Among the Stars!

Haru is scouting her territory, leaving the care of her village with Yami. Deep inside, Haru knows that it is a _terrible_ idea to do that, but the village can _probably_ stand for a day in her brother’s hands… maybe… If anything, the other clan leaders can deal with him…

Stopping near a cave, she looks up to the sky. The clouds are dark. There is a chance of rain. On cue, droplets of water falls to her face. With a sigh, she enters the cave, fuming that this will delay her quick scouting until tomorrow, depending on the weather… True, she _could_ just continue scouting, but there’s no point in rushing…

She walks deeper into the cave to see if she can find a stream. Activating her Byakugan, she begins her search… only to find something… rather peculiar. With nothing better to do, she approaches the anomaly. Further in the cave, she finds the… thing. A glowing thing… It resembles a pond, but honestly? No pond would glow like that! She reactivates her Byakugan. Yup. That confirms it… Whatever the thing is can block her Dojutsu.

She approaches the mysterious water, observing the surroundings. Near the pond is a corpse wearing robes of some sort. On the robe is a crescent moon symbol with a black sphere inside the arc. A clan symbol, perhaps? The symbol is unfamiliar, however. Probably from a clan that died out long ago.

Deciding to not care about old dead clans, Haru picks up a rock, throwing it to the pond. No ripples form. Probably not water, then. She gets closer, sticking her hand into the pond… She can feel no sensation from doing this. So, is it a Genjutsu?

She pulls her hand out and stands back up. This is the weirdest thing she has _ever_ found in her territory. She ponders what to do next. A part of her, the logical part, argues that she should run back to the village once the rain stops and have a team to investigate this thing. Another part, the part that is both curious _and_ impatient, tells her to just jump in and deal with it herself.

The logical part of her hasn’t had a say in her action since the founding of the village, so she jumps into the pond… and sees a bunch of ginormous glowing balls that she feels that she must _not_ ever touch.

“God fucking damn it!” With nothing nearby to land on to dodge the balls, she gathers up her chakra and redirects her fall using powerful gusts of wind. With the high amount of spheres to dodge, though, she quickly tires herself out.

Fortunately, she lands at the bottom before her chakra runs out. She’s tired, however, her clan’s low chakra level to blame for that.

“Th-that… was stupid…” She moves to take a rest, but before she does she feels a rumble. She looks around, looking for the source of the rumble and she spots it. A giant blue crab, with one pincer about the size of its body. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”

She jumps out of the way before the crab could crush her with its massive pincer, though, thanks to her exhaustion, her landing is less than elegant. “This is just _not_ my day…” Without much energy to use, she attempts to crawl out of the crab’s field of view.

Of course, what she doesn’t realize… is that the damn colossal fiddler can see all around… She doesn’t get very far before the crab strikes her, sending her hurtling towards… another weirdly glowing cave-pond.

She doesn’t know how long she’s been unconscious, but when she wakes, she is in another cave, this time free from humongous, aggressive crustaceans with a anger issues. She’s getting tired of these caves.

She gets up into a sitting position, her body sore and tired. “Fucking piece of shit cave… When I get out, I’m throwing prisoners into this hell hole!”

“Ah, you have finally awoken…” Haru attempts to get into a battle pose, but her body refuses to cooperate with her. Instead, she turns her head towards the sound of the voice, making sure to wear the angriest expression she can muster.

She comes face to face with a man, possessing a magnificent beard, shining white like the silver moon, wearing the same robe as the dead body she remembers from earlier. Huh, not a dead clan. Still unfamiliar, however. She drops her expression, since the man has his eyes shut.

Normally, when meeting with someone as a foreigner, Haru would use all the diplomacy skills taught to her since she was a child. “Fuck off…” Right now, she just wants to go home and forget her defeat against what could have been a nice feast.

The strange man cocks a silvery eyebrow. “I see your time among the _humans_ have… made you adapt to their ways of communication…”

Oh, _this_ guy… what is he even..? “What..?”

The man knits his eyebrows together. “Has your mother told you _nothing_ about our plan to save the Ootsutsuki from their blasphemy against Hamura’s will?”

Haru looks back into her childhood… An absent, violent father, and an uncaring, strict mother… who never talks to her… _ever_ … Such is the ways of the world. “Yeah, my mother was a prick who tells me nothing… Who the fuck is Hamura?”

The man grits his teeth. “What?! How could she ruin the plan?! How could she not tell you _anything_?!” The man calms himself with a sigh. “Looks like I’ll have to be the one to teach you, then…”

Haru frowns deeply, her right eye twitching. “Teach me what? The manners of your people?”

“No.” He finally opens his eyelids, Haru getting an eyeful of two empty sockets. “I will teach you all the techniques you will need to eliminate those heretics from our clan!”

Haru’s jaw drops. “The hell, man?!” She blocks her eyes with her forearm. “Don’t just open those sockets of yours without warning!”

“Why do you think you were sent to hide out on Earth?” He points a finger at her direction. “It’s so your Byakugan won’t be forcefully taken from you!” He approaches her, grabbing her arm blocking her eyes. “Now, come! We have no time to lose! We need you to awaken your Tenseigan!”

Haru plants the heels of her feet on the ground, trying to resist the man. It is useless, however, for this man is just _inhumanly_ strong compared to her. “Wait! I don’t think I’m who you think I am!”

He turns his head towards her direction. “What? Nonsense! Where else would you get those eyes of yours? You’re an Ootsutsuki.”

She grinds her teeth, feeling a pressure on her temple. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve ever checked, but there’s an entire CLAN who have these eyes!”

He dismisses her claims. “Pft! Don’t be silly! You’re just running away from your responsibilities, aren’t you?”

Her eyebrow twitches. “No… You’re stealing me _away_ from my responsibilities!”

“Well, whatever those responsibilities were, this one is more important!”

“Well, I don’t believe you!” This man is just _so_ stubborn! Sighing in defeat, she decides to ask a burning question in her mind. “Where the hell am I, anyway?! You mentioned Earth as if it’s far away from here.”

“Why, you’re on the moon! A fitting home for an Ootsutsuki!”

Haru’s jaw drops as her inner world shatters. _‘Th-there’s actual people on the freaking moon?!’_ She thinks. _‘Oh God, is Yami actually RIGHT about something..?’_ Her resistance drops, and the man drags her away to train her in the Tessaiga, or whatever...

And so, Haru’s journey of learning techniques that her body is incapable of handling begins… Of course, Gumansansho, the man with the weird delusion of being her father somehow, is one _terrible_ teacher.

“I don’t understand why it’s not manifesting… The requirements are simple! Byakugan and Ootsutsuki chakra… That isn’t ambiguous at all!” Her current sensei complains.

“That’s actually a dumb requirement… If the Byakugan originated from the Ootsutsuki, then, by default, someone who naturally has the dojutsu IS an Ootsutsuki somewhere along the family tree…” While the Gumasansho never taught her the origins of the Byakugan, that information was heavily implied in one of his rants.

“Oh, hush you, and your weird earth logic…” He rubs his chin in deep thought. “Perhaps you need to become a sage… Yes… I’ll teach you how to use natural energy like an extension to your body!” He gathers chakra, mixing it with something unfamiliar. Without warning, he darts towards Haru, shoving the sphere into her body.

“Hey! What the hell?!” She moves to punch him, but her body is feeling heavy for some reason. She looks down and her mouth gapes in horror at her arm slowly turning into stone. “What the fuck?!”

He ignores her plight. “Now, normally, humans have to learn this technique at the location of powerful animal summons, like toads or snakes…” He starts pacing. “But, their technique is slow! Due to necessity, our clan learned a faster method to gather natural energy to make up for the fact that we seal our eyes and become blind!” He gives her a satisfying smile. “Now, you just have to balance it with your spiritual and physical energies… Quickly, before you turn into stone.”

“You goddamn shit head! Why didn’t you tell me that BEFORE I started turning into a fucking statue?!” Only her head is free at this point. She’s too angry to even TRY to balance the three energies. “How is the Tenseiga worth this shit?!”

Gumasansho’s face twists with malice. “The Tenseiga is NOT worth all this trouble! It is a useless sword that can’t even do it’s JOB, requiring this thing called compassion to even become remotely useful!” He lifts his pointer finger in a scholarly fashion. “The TenseiGAN, however, has much more uses… It can even do the Tenseiga’s job of bringing life back to the dead…” Haru’s eye twitches as her body continues its petrification.

Before she transforms into the first living human statue on the moon, Gumasansho places his palm on her shoulder, reabsorbing whatever he injected into her, slowly turning her body back into flesh.

“Hmm… This training could take a while… I guess your lack of experience with natural energy will make you… slower compared to the rest of our clansmen…” And a while it does. She’s lost count on how long she’s been on this miserable rock, but her estimation ranges to weeks, almost a month at least. But, at long last, she finally learns how to balance the three energies while trying to punch Gumasansho’s face off his body. Too bad he can dodge like a boss and she can never get a strike in.

“Oh, I’m so proud of you, honey! Even with you hanging out with mostly humans, you STILL learned how to balance natural energy faster than one!” He gives her a big smile her real father never gave her when he was alive. Of course, he still technically abducted her, so it isn’t as heartwarming as she thought it would be. “I have a gift for you.”

He hands her a white kimono with a high collar. Around the neck area are six magatama markings. At the back are nine magatamas arranged in a square formation with a dot enveloped inside several rings with two short horizontal lines connecting at the outermost ring. “Um, I know what it is… but what does it signify..?” She asks him as she puts it on. It looks pretty cool, afterall.

“That, my dear, was the kimono once worn by Hamura himself! Well, his brother also wore a similar looking kimono, but that’s beside the point!” He turns around, raising his arms in the same manner someone would to praise the sun after months of snow. A good sign of him starting a monologue of something he cares deeply about. “This signifies your start of becoming the next Hamura! Soon, you’ll learn how to perfect the Sage mode, eventually leading you to gain the Six Paths Senjutsu… granting you the use of Truth Seeking Balls and the ability to use Six Paths Sage Mode! Then, you’ll learn how to awaken the Tenseigan, once you control all three energies the way an Ootsutsuki does! Once you gain that power, any war that can occur will-” In his distraction, his guard went down, giving Haru the chance to strike.

During his monologue, Haru managed to collect some natural energy, so she used it with her air palm, blasting him hard enough to break through the walls of the cave, probably knocking him unconscious. Haru doesn’t really care. “Fuck you, you stupid delusional ass! This sage crap uses too much chakra!”

She walks towards the portal, now that no one is around to _see_ her escape. She jumps in, dodging the giant fiddler crab using her new ability to fly, which an Ootsutsuki can do for some reason, and flies towards the other portal, dodging the giant glowing balls that _scream_ trap, and exiting to the cave in which she entered. She collapses on the ground, her chakra mostly gone after less than a minute.

She crawls towards the cave entrance, seeing that the sun is shining down on her. She rises from the ground to get back on her feet. “Fuck this cave…” She walks towards the direction of her village.


	8. Left My Heart... Elsewhere...

Madara is passing by one day when he hears the familiar voice of the Kaguya clan leader. 

“We’ve finally found the location… There’s no mistaking it! We’ve finally found the location of those supposedly demonic white eyed clan!” Madara looks towards the location of the voice and finds the familiar presence of the Kaguya clan leader. He makes himself scarce while, at the same time, remaining within seeing and hearing distance from the group. “And now, we shall challenge them in a battle to the death! They will kneel before us, in awe of our power!” The rest of the clan cheers and Madara smiles.

_ ‘Yes… Looks like I can finally end you, White Eyed Demon!’ _ Madara smiles with glee as he stealthily follows the feral Kaguyas towards his enemy. 

Elsewhere, Taketori can feel himself tremble with worry. Earlier today, one of the border patrols reported to him of hack markings very close to their borders. 

“Eh, probably from some angry black panther whose father was killed by a soldier, or something…” The patroller told him.

But, no, they weren’t claw marks from some feline creature. They were familiar hack markings made from a serrated sword. It can only mean one thing: the Kaguya clan found their location. Not good. 

He enters the Village Head’s dwellings, a title he technically would be temporarily holding, if he was experienced, but he is still green with the leading thing. “Yami!” So, it is Haru’s brother who is currently at that place in her absence, which lasted MUCH longer than her ‘a day or two’ estimate. 

“Yeees?” Yami turns to him, while sitting on a chair that can freely spin somehow. On his lap is a confused looking young girl with blue eyes and mid-length golden hair tied in a pony tail.

“How did..?! Where did..?!” Taketori doesn’t know how to express his current confusion.

“Hmmm..? Oh! This chair…  _ Weeell _ …” Yami flips his bangs. “You know Pierrot Plains? Well, far northwest from there is a magnificent city!” He starts petting the girl as if she is a cat. “Ah, so many beautiful women there, my friend!” Yami’s expression drops. “Of course, none could compete to their most beautiful elite… their genius industrialist… the lovely Fire Nation Maiden…” Tears starts to leak from his eyes. “Why..? Why must you accept an engagement with that… that… that  _ uncultured _ tribe warrior?! I’m an heir! I’m  _ perfect _ ! Sure, I never saved your city, but give me time, and I would have saved it a hundred times over…” His expression suddenly perks up again. “And so, I stole her chair to remember her by!”

“I… I thought you were searching for a Princess Kaguya to be the love of your life..?” Taketori hasn’t forgotten THAT tale.

“Ohohoho… You innocent,  _ naive _ adolescent…” Yami leans back on his chair. “Now, why would I limit my love to one woman? Any number of things could happen to them before I even meet them! And so, I allow my love to be flexible, until the day I finally find The One!”

“Okay… Then, why do you have a little girl on your lap..?” 

Yami’s eyes widen. “Oh her..?” He places his hands on her shoulders. “Why, she’s plan B of my hopes and dreams of creating my own clan! I found her drowning from a powerful wave, so I saved her. She’s a quick little scamp, though, and tried to run after punching me…” He places a hand on her head. “I think I’ll call her Namikaze.”

“My name is Sagenko…” The reticent girl comments.

Taketori panics a bit. “Create your own clan..?” The horror sets in. “Don’t tell me you plan on  _ marrying _ her..? She doesn’t look close to being old enough to bear a child!” 

Yami raises an eyebrow. “Now, why would I do that..?” He sets Sagenko down on her feet and stands. “No… I want to be her inspiration! Her clan’s inspiration! I want to be… her father figure…” He points dramatically at Taketori. “With you as my faithful partner! Together, we will be the fathers of the future Namikaze clan! Within a few centuries, they will be known as the fastest, most  _ beautiful _ clan that ever graced the battlefield, and us as the legendary forefathers of the clan!”

“F-fathers..?” 

“Why we’ll be married, of course! For love knows no bounds…” Yami approaches Taketori, moving his face uncomfortably close. “So… do you want to accept my proposal..?”

Taketori gives him a stony stare. “No.” Yami gives him his space back.

“Well, it was worth the shot…” He turns to Sagenko. “Namikaze! What do you think of my plan?”

The little girl just glares at him. “You’re not a very good role model… I don’t think you’ll EVER become a legendary figure.” She looks away to ignore Yami.

Yami’s mouth gapes. “Wh-wh-what..? But… I…” 

Before he can continue on, the entrance to the building opens, Shikahiro gracing them with his presence. “Oh? You’re already here, Taketori? Did you tell Yami of the situation?”

Taketori’s eyes widen. “S-sorry, Nara Sir… He started talking about his chair… and that child he found… I was distracted…”

Shikahiro pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it… He has a way with words that will distract anyone who isn’t used to interacting with him…”

“What’s the situation?” Yami asks after picking himself back up from his hurt feelings.

“My clan…” Taketori’s voice is grim. “They found our general location somehow.”

“Oh, my sister is not going to like this one bit…” Yami cracks a huge grin. “Let’s recon to see how we can handle this situation!” Yami moves to grab Taketori and Shikahiro’s arms, wrapping them on his shoulders. He performs a few hand sign, slamming a palm on the floor after finishing. Taketori feels a dizzying sensation, his vision unable to process what is happening. Not long after, the three of them are now on the cliffside, and Taketori falls on the floor, nauseated. Shikahiro fares better, though he seems to have a mild headache.

“Wh-what just happened..?” Taketori looks ahead, seeing the view of the giant forest hiding their village. “What the hell?! How did we get here so fast?!”

“Ohohoho! Don’t you worry about it!” Yami rubs his chin in a sagely manner. “I found a place with some talking frogs some months ago. They told me that I bore the eyes of some guy named Ham, the brother of Hog… Huh, I wonder if my clan is connected to boars..?” Yami shrugs. “Anyways, they offered to let me sign a contract to summon them for battle and to teach me some sage thing…” He crosses his arms. “But, I’m already such a  _ wise _ being and who would want to summon frogs? Not classy at all…” He grins. “So, I figured out how this ‘summoning’ thing worked. It took a while, but I can now…  _ travel _ … to any marked location...”

“U-ugh…” Shikahiro seems to recover. “Even after all this time, you still surprise me…”

“I aim to please.” He activates his Byakugan. “Well, let’s see what we’re up against!” He scans the area, soon finding the anomaly. “Oh? They’re walking as one, big group. Not a good formation… About two hundred of them… They’re still a bit far, though.” He deactivates his dojutsu. “Well, there might be a few casualties, but our future is safe!” 

His expression drops. “But what’s the point..? The most beautiful woman rejects me, the most handsome man said no, and my adoptive daughter finds me unworthy…” He takes out a clear bottle full of amber liquid and opens it. It smells suspiciously like apple. “To make it worse, the princess is in another location! What am I even living for..?” He drinks from the bottle. 

“Well, it looks like planning for this is easier than I thought.” Shikahiro remains unfazed in their temporary Village Head’s breakdown. “Grab Yami. We’ll need to head to the Yamanaka’s dwellings to spread my plan.”

It takes them about half an hour to set up, several teams consisting of one member of each clan heading to small areas within the forest with a patch of treeless land. 

“Um… shouldn’t we have recruited a more… stable Hyuuga for this?” Taketori asks, worrying about Yami’s almost catatonic stillness. 

Shikahiro shrugs. “Don’t worry… He’ll be fine. Inoshi! Link with Choshin! Choshin! Go lure some as many Kaguya clansmen as you can!”

“Yes sir!” The two replies. Choshin darts towards the cluster of their enemies while Inoshi positions himself on top of a tree, concentrating on their mind link.

“So far so good… Taketori?” 

“Right.” Taketori slams his palms on the ground, creating a huge cage made of bones with two opening points. Shikahiro enters it, laying a long metal wire on the floor into a net-like pattern. He exits and heads towards Yami, tying the last bit of wire on his hand.

“Whelp… Looks like we’re ready.” Shikahiro faces Inoshi. “Tell Choshin that the trap is set!”

Inoshi grunts, relaying the message to his friend. “He’s near with the targets.”

They wait in anticipation for the arrival of the Akimichi. It doesn’t take a moment longer when Choshin darts through the cage, far ahead of the group of Kaguya clansmen he baited. He exits the prison and Taketori closes the exit. Not a moment sooner, about twenty raging warriors floods in. 

“That’s all of them!” Inoshi shouts. Taketori closes the entrance. 

“Wow… You were right, majority of your clan IS simple minded when it comes to violence…” Shikahiro comments.

“You!” Taketori hears the familiar voice of his father. “You stupid little bamboo cutter… Why would you betray our clan?!”

Taketori stands tall to face him. “Because I couldn’t let you fight all of our clansmen to death! Even if our clan’s name vanishes, at least there will be survivors who don’t fight needlessly!”

“I should have killed you when I had the chance, you ungrateful brat!” His father rages. “To think you’d fight cowardly like a-”

Before he can finish, Yami stands, his body crackling with lightning. “No… Those two women CAN’T be in love with each other!” The lightning grows stronger. He seems to be unaware of his surroundings. “I won’t allow it! I want the dark-haired one!” The lightning travels through the wire, shocking their prisoners and knocking them unconscious. Yami slumps to the ground. “But, who am I kidding..? They ARE in love! And it isn’t to me…” Yami curls into a ball.

Taketori gapes, turning to Shikahiro’s direction. “H-how… How did you..?”

Shikahiro waves him off. “Eh, lightning is his prefered element… There was a high chance he would use it, at some point.” Taketori elects to not question the Nara’s seemingly endless intuition.

“So, how come you weren’t left in charge while Haru is away?” Taketori has been wondering this since Haru left.

The Nara leader shrugs. “I prefer advising over leading… Besides, you’re being trained in that position, so it’s fine…”

“No, no, no, no, NO!!” A voice angrily chants. Up on one of the trees, a figure emerges. “This is supposed to end in a bloody conflict!”

“Holy crap!” Shikahiro panics, jumping into the arms of Choshin, who also sports a panicked look. Inoshi squeals in fear, falling off the branch he sat on. Yami remains uncaring.

Taketori, meanwhile, holds a look of confusion as he stares at the man with long, spiky hair and red armor. The same man who baited his father into attacking Haru’s clan; Uchiha Madara. “Um, why are you guys scared, all of the sudden?” He whispers to his companions. Honestly, Taketori’s first encounter with Madara made him seem… too silly to be taken seriously.

“W-we know what he’s capable of! Inoshi has seen it!” Choshin tells him.

Inoshi nods. “I-it’s so scary in there…” He refers to Madara’s mind. “Unless there’s a God among our group or we’re being sneaky, there’s no WAY we can stand up to him!” Inoshi shrinks further. Taketori is now starting to panic.

Madara grins. “Yes… You are right in fearing me… For I, Madara, can’t be beaten unless you cowards CHEAT!” He points at the group. “Where is your leader?!”

All at once, they all point towards Yami, who is still unaware of the danger around him. “He’s the leader!” They all say simultaneously. 

Madara scoffs. “No… I want your true leader! Where is that woman?!”

“W-we… We don’t know!” Shikahiro informs him.

Madara crosses his arms. “So, she’s hiding, huh? I always knew she was a coward!” He glares at them. “This will only be more painful to you all…” A grin forms. “I will take you all as my prisoner, keeping you all barely alive until your leader comes! Then, we will fight to the death! No tools, no teams… Just our own skills and abilities clashing!” He pumps his fist. “Then I, Madara, will prove once and for all that I possess no equal, for I am destined for greatness! For Godhood! For rule over this mortal realm as its absolute watcher, with only Hashirama as my-GAH!” All of a sudden, Madara falls to the ground, unconscious. 

Right on the branch where Madara once stood, Haru emerges, wearing an unfamiliar kimono with her dark hair messed up and out of its usual ties. “Man, these people and their speeches…” She addresses to no one in particular. She surveys the area, taking it all in. “Yeah, I get the feeling that a bunch of weird stuff happened…”

Taketori sighs in relief. “You’re not wrong…” He stares back at her. “So… where were you?” He looks at Madara. “And what did you do to him?”

Haru pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’d rather not talk about it… And Madara is fine… I just absorbed his chakra to knock him unconscious…” She scoffs. “Well, time to throw him to a river, again… Stubborn, vengeful Uchiha…”

“So, what do we do with the prisoners?” Shikahiro recovers from his panic.

Haru gives him a wistful look. “I have an idea.”

It takes them some time, but they arrive at a cave and they start to throw the prisoners into a glowing pond. 

“How did you find this place?” Taketori asks. 

Haru looks away. “I’d… rather not talk about it…” She picks up Madara’s body. “Well, I better go throw this guy to a river.”

“Um, why not at the pond?” 

“Because the Uchihas are crazy, but NOT stupid…” She moves to the cave entrance. “Well, see you later. Give me an update on what the crap has been happening once I get back!”

Taketori nods, letting Haru keep whatever secret she’s hiding. It’s probably not a big deal.


End file.
